I love sharing stories of ordinary people who do extraordinary things. Not only is Richard a United States Navy Lieutenant but he’s also a seasoned vet at travel hacking.

Join us as we invite another featured guest to the podcast to share their experience as a travel hacker to inspire you to begin your journey to see the world as well.

Featured Guest

Richard Kerr is a native of Lagrange, Georgia. He has served 6 years in the United States Navy and is currently stationed in Japan. He has earned over 3 million combined frequent flier miles and points for around $2,000 dollars.

He now teaches a travel hacking course on the side with members of his Facebook group Travel Hacking 101 and continues to follow his passion by traveling as much as possible.

In this interview, we cover a wide range of things as we both geek out about travel. Here are some main talking points:

Went to High School in Manchester, UK and got to travel all over Europe, which got him hooked to the travel lifestyle.
Went to college and majored in International Business.
What motivated him is doing something that makes a difference.
Was at a crossroads when the economy tanked.
Met an Army recruiter while researching graduate school.
Decided the Navy was a better fit and has been an Officer for the past 6 years, getting to travel all over the world.

“Hey, I hear Japan’s great so let me get some of that action.â€

The art of manufactured spend can really allow you to do some very neat things.

When you get really creative, you can combine programs together, shopping portals are an amazing way to do what’s called a double or triple dip, or just taking advantage of promotions that come up.
Plink.com for amazon cards. You can earn Plink points to redeem free travel.

Just to dispel a myth, there’s no magic website that’s going to have a ticket for $5.

There’s just no magic website.
It comes down to doing your time, earning your points, figuring out how to do that, and having a flexible schedule and flexible destination to be able to use those points.

Best rate guarantee – great way to save hundreds of dollars.

Has nothing to do with a credit card
Simply finding a better price on a third party website than the hotel has listed on their own website and hotels with this guarantee will match it.
In Hyatt’s case, they actually take another 20% off the lower price.

Grand Hyatt Singapore – Usually $600/night but Richard found a lower rate over at www.amoma.com at $220/night. He called their Best Rate Guarantee line and they gave 20%off the $220 to be only $180/night.

Hyatt – Diamond Trial: You can call Hyatt up and ask them to do a Diamond Trial which gives you Diamond status top tier status for the next 60 days. If you want to keep it for a year, you need to spend 12 nights at a Hyatt.

Free breakfast, cocktails, concierge, room upgrade, front house manager greets you, welcome amenity, free internet.

Buy Hyatt gift cards at a discount rate online to compound the savings.
Wrap Up
“Nothing worth having comes easy but it’ll pay off.â€

I had so much fun chatting with Richard. Feel free to contact him by joining his own Facebook group: Travel Hacking 101.

I hope you enjoyed this episode. See ya next time on Monday. Have a wonderful weekend.

Cheers.

Kevin Le





***P.S. If you’re a travel hacker or you’re passionate about traveling, feel free to contact me to be a featured guest on the show. I’d love to geek out about travel with ya so don’t be shy!